Publication year
2012
Citation Title
Evaluation of a family-centered prevention intervention for military children and families facing wartime deployments.
Journal Name
American Journal Of Public Health
Journal Volume
102
Issue Number
S1
Page Numbers
S48-S54
DOI
10.2105/AJPH.2010.300088
Summary
Evidence-based programs are needed to help military families cope with the stress of deployment. Parent, child, and overall family well-being was compared before and after the Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS) program to examine its effect on resilience and psychological health. Family satisfaction with the FOCUS program was high, and the program was associated with improved parent, child, and family health and well-being (e.g., positive coping skills, decreased distress) among Marine Corp and Navy families experiencing combat- and deployment-related stress.
Key Findings
The FOCUS program was associated with significant reductions in parent distress and unhealthy family functioning among Marine Corp and Navy families.
Children who participated in the program experienced significant improvements in adjustment and increases in prosocial behavior; children seven years and older who completed a measure of coping reported increased use of positive coping strategies.
Parents rated the program highly in terms of overall helpfulness to the family, satisfaction with the program, and willingness to recommend the program to another family.
Implications for Program Leaders
Teach family communication skills used within the FOCUS program across all types of family and parent support programs
Educate both military parents and children about the benefits of healthy emotion regulation and how to use healthy emotion regulation techniques
Use evaluation measures, like those used by FOCUS, to assess the feasibility and acceptability of activities, resources, and supports offered to military families
Implications for Policy Makers
Recommend that all programs use a uniform stress continuum model (e.g., U.S. Navy and Marine Corps green, yellow, orange, red four-color system) to aid in clear communication between agencies and programs during referrals
Encourage the development of a comprehensive system that connects families to resources, including referring to new programs after families change location
Promote professional development for providers working with military families to learn about the techniques used in the FOCUS program
Methods
The authors utilized data from a previous program evaluation study collected between July 2008 and February 2010 with families on U.S. Navy and Marine Corp bases across the U.S. and Japan.
Data collected included family demographic information and functioning, Service member deployment history and PTSD or other mental health symptoms, and child coping skills and strengths and difficulties.
Parent, child, and whole family well-being were compared before and after the FOCUS intervention.
Participants
Participants included 488 families (742 parents and 873 children) at baseline and 331 families at pre- and post-intervention, and all families included at least one Active Duty parent.
Parents were 34.39 years of age on average and were primarily married (96%); Primary caretakers were mostly female (97%), while Active Duty caretakers were mostly male (84%).
Children were boys (55%) and girls (45%) aged 3-7 years (61%), 8-10 years (19%), or 11 years and older (20%).
Limitations
Without a control group who did not receive the intervention, it cannot be concluded whether the results are due to the program alone.
The data were collected from Marine Corps and Navy installations only and may not generalize to other Service branches.
Since there is no long-term follow-up of participating families, the later effects of the intervention are unclear.
Avenues for Future Research
Conduct a study with a longitudnal design to assess if improvements last over time following the intervention
Compare the well-being of military samples who have and have not received the FOCUS intervention research should include a control or “treatment as usual” group
Explore the effects of the FOCUS intervention in a sample with more racial/ethnic diversity, different family types (e.g., divorced, partners), and different military branches.
Focus
Multiple Branches
Target Population
Population Focus
Military Component
Abstract
Objectives. We evaluated the Families OverComing Under Stress program, which provides resiliency training designed to enhance family psychological health in US military families affected by combat- and deployment-related stress. Methods. We performed a secondary analysis of Families OverComing Under Stress program evaluation data that was collected between July 2008 and February 2010 at 11 military installations in the United States and Japan. We present data at baseline for 488 unique families (742 parents and 873 children) and pre–post outcomes for 331 families. Results. Family members reported high levels of satisfaction with the program and positive impact on parent–child indicators. Psychological distress levels were elevated for service members, civilian parents, and children at program entry compared with community norms. Change scores showed significant improvements across all measures for service member and civilian parents and their children (P<.001). Conclusions. Evaluation data provided preliminary support for a strength based, trauma-informed military family prevention program to promote resiliency and mitigate the impact of wartime deployment stress.
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